There have been four homicides, which are murders or manslaughters. There were two cases of death or injury by dangerous driving.

Across England and Wales, the number of recorded homicides rose by 6%, the highest level in a decade. These figures excluded people who died in terror attacks.

Theft, one of the most high volume crimes, slightly decreased by 2%. Drugs-related offences rose by 11%.

Commenting on the national figures, Chief Constable Bill Skelly, of the National Police Chiefs' Council, said: "Rising crime, increased terrorist activity and fewer police officers have put serious strain on the policing we offer to the public.

"We are determining the additional capabilities and investment we need to drive down violence and catch more criminals - and we will make the case at the next Government Spending Review."

Policing minister Nick Hurd said: "New statistics show that your chance of being a victim of crime remains low. Yet too many people are still falling victim to serious violence, which is why we will continue our urgent and unprecedented action to reverse this terrible trend.

"We have given police forces additional powers and have this year put more than £1 billion extra into policing."

Criminal damage in St Helens, which includes arson and vandalising cars and houses, has gone down, from 2,487 incidents in 2017, to 2,031 in the latest figures.

While violence with injury, which includes assault, GBH and wounding, has risen, this could be due to improved police recording.

Similarly sexual offences are hard to judge as many more victims are now coming forward due to a series of high-profile cases.

In St Helens, there were 390 incidents recorded in 2018, a 20% rise on the previous year, when 326 crimes were reported.

There were also 1,664 cases of stalking and harassment reported over the same period.